It is a prudent practice in the railroad industry to monitor the temperature of bearings on a train consist. Over time, the bearings can wear and break down. As they do, they generate more heat on account of increased friction among the damaged parts. As the generated heat increases, so does the incurred damage. If the bearing is not repaired or replaced in a timely fashion, the bearing may become irreparably damaged and cause damage to surrounding components of the consist and/or to the tracks upon which the train consist is traveling. Damaged bearings and tracks make for expensive and time consuming repairs.
Monitoring the temperature of train consist bearings can involve a range of technologies. For example, temperature sensors are often placed near the bearings and data related to the temperature can be transmitted wirelessly to processors within the locomotive. Alternatively, data regarding bearing temperatures can be collected on the track as the train consist moves past the sensor, and transmitted to a control center where it is analyzed. Other ways of collecting, analyzing and transmitting bearing temperature-related data have also been utilized.
Although functional, each of the monitoring technologies described above have drawbacks. For example, wireless communication can be insecure, limited by bandwidth and prone to interference from outside sources. Detecting bearing temperatures from the track often yields inaccurate and vague data as it can be difficult for track-based sensors to pinpoint which bearing on which train consist is problematic. Additionally, transmitting the collected data from the track to a control center for analysis and then transmitting the analysis results to the train consist is a time consuming process. These difficulties increase as a size of the consist increases, while at the same time, the importance of accurate and reliable temperature monitoring also increases.
One attempt to address the problems described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,451 that issued to Grosskopf et al. on Aug. 29, 1995 (“the '451 patent”). In particular, the '451 patent discloses an on-board bearing temperature detection system controlled by a microprocessor. The system monitors the temperature of each bearing of the train with an on-board temperature sensor placed near each bearing. The temperature sensors produce an analog signal corresponding to the temperature of the bearing. The analog signals are routed to an A/D converter, from which digital signals are delivered to a microprocessor that analyzes the signals and determines if bearing overheating is occurring at any of the temperature sensors. The patent further discloses a self-diagnostics system that monitors train line wiring for electrical shorts that otherwise can create false alarms.
Although the system of the '451 patent may have improved accuracy with monitoring bearing temperature overheating, the system may still be problematic. In particular, the system of the '451 patent requires external wiring, which can reduce the durability of the system.
The consist communication system of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art.